Material handling apparatus



06f. 12, 1943. 1 H, LlENAU 2,331,613 l MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed June 15, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oi 12 1943. J. H. LII-:NAU

MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed June 15, 1940 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TORS ,m m a a n .E a f l JT l NPN/72am WNV NN @NN NNW Uf @fr A Tram/5y Oct. l2, 1943o J. H. LIENAU MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed June l5, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS L ze'izu am] Jil /Vzzna 71p BY a 7 Patented Oct. 12, 1943 MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Jacob H. Lienau, New York, and Jacob J. Neuman, South Salem, N. Y.

Original application June 15, 1940, Serial No. i 340,814. Divided and this application March 23, 1942, Serial No. 435,824

1 Claim. (ci. 214-14) This invention relates to material handling apparatus and more particularly to a means for handling material which is unloaded from a vessel or other carrier and conveyed to storage.

This invention is an improvement over the conveyor system and monorail hoist disclosed in a former patent, No. 1,988,855 and divisions thereof, the present application being a division of our 'co-pending application, Serial No. 340,814, iiled June 15, 1949, now Patent No. 2,291,197, issued August 4, 1942.

' An object of this invention is to provide a sys tem of traveling hoists 'and conveyors associated therewith for handlingmaterials in bags or other containers.

Another objectl of this invention is to provide a system'of traveling hoists and conveyors which will facilitate the unloading of a vessel, and which may be installedin the present structure of a dock, warehouse, or shed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system of traveling hcists to facilitate unloading of cargo vessels and adaptable to vessels of different sizes and construction and the difer- -veyor arrangement or system embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of thevmaterial handling apparatus and system embodied in this invention; Y y i Fig. 3 is a det-ail side elevation, partly in section, of the carrier stopping means;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the carrier stopping means, Aand f Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of one of the stopping shoes. n

Referring to the drawings and first to Fig. 1, a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in Which a vessel V is moored alongside a pier upon which is located an elevated monorail system consisting of two endless tracks 26 and 21 positioned substantially opposite the fore and aft holds, respectively, of the vessel V, and around which tracks a plurality of electrically driven combined vhois'ts and carriers llll travel in counterclockwise direction. The tracks 26 and 21 are supported by means of a framework generally indicated as 28 and consisting of a pair of longitudinallyextending frame members 29 and 33 connected by transverse beams 3| and sup- .ported above the surface of the pier 25 by a plurality of vertical posts 32. Each of the tracks 26 'and 21 has a substantially straight section 33 and 33, respectively, on the vessel side of the pier 25, and a substantially straight section 34 and 31, respectively, parallel to the corresponding sections 33 and 36, but arranged on the shore side of the pier. The straight sections 33 and 34 of track 26 terminate at one end in a semi-circular section 35 and the straight sections 36 and 31 of the track 31 also terminate at one end in a semi-circular section 38. The other ends of each of the straight sections 33 and 34 and of sec- .tions 36 and 31 are adapted to cooperate by means of suitable switches S (Fig. 2) either with short straight sections 39 land 40 to combine the tracks 26 and 21 into a single loop, or the aforementioned straight sections 33, 34, 36 and 31 are adapted to cooperate with semi-circular sections 43 and 44 to form separate endless tracks 26 and 21. In this manner, the carriers H0 traveling along the monorail system may be shifted from one of the endless tracks 26 and 21 tothe other for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

Along the path of travel lof the carriers Il!! on the shore side of the monorail system is a weighing station W Where each load may be weighed before passing on to an'unloading sta-V tion U arranged beyond the weighing station. As clearly shown Ain Figs. 1v and 2, a separate weighing station W and a separate unloading station U are provided for each of the tracks 26 and 21. At each unloading station, there is Aprovided a pair of endless conveyors IH and H2 positioned at right angles to the straight sections 34 and 31 of the corresponding tracks 26 and 21,

said endless conveyors receiving a load of bags from the carriers H0 and discharging the same onto conveyors H3 and H4, respectively. The last named conveyors may be of the self-discharging type as disclosed in a former patent, No. 1,911,525, or, as shown, may be adapted for semi-automatic dumping where aman stands at the dschargi'ng'end and guides the bag while the contents is dischargedl and the empty bags cast aside. Alongside each of the conveyors HI and H2 are provided sling vconveyors 321 (Fig. 2) for conveying the empty slings to the monorail system to be returned by the empty carriers H9 to the loading stations on the vessel side of the vtracks` 26 and 21, as will later appear.

The material is discharged from each of the conveyors H3 onto separate lateral conveyors H5 and the material from each conveyor H4 is discharged onto a separate lateral conveyor H6 parallel with the adjacent one of the conveyors ||5. The conveyors H5 and H6 associated with each of the tracks 26 and 21 discharge the loose material into separate crushing devices H1 from whence the crushed material drops downwardly therefrom onto elevating conveyors H8 which extend in opopsite directions from the respective crushing devices H1 to a double cracker mechanism H9 suitably supported by members |20.

The double cracker mechanism H9 is su-itably constructed to provide two hoppers each adapted to receive the material from one of the elevating conveyors H8 and discharge the same through a discharge opening onto one of the conveyors |2| positioned at right angles to conveyors H8 and extendingtransversely `over an open bin |22. Rotatably mounted in each hopper is a pail` of rollers 3 I6 (Fig. 2) provided with radial blades 3|5 for breaking up any remaining lumps in the material discharged in the double cracker mechanism i9 byr the elevating conveyors H8.

The material may be discharged from either or both of the elevating conveyors |2| onto either or both of conveyors |24 which .extend longitudinally of the bin |22 and from each of which conveyors the material is discharged into the binby separate V-shaped ploughs |25 adjustable longitudinally of the conveyors by cables |26. In this manner, the material on each conveyor |24 maybe discharged at any desired point along the length thereof .into the storage bin |22.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, electrical energy for `the motor of each carrier H8 is supplied from trolley wires 2|6 and 2|1 by the usual trolley shoes supported by the carrier and connected to the controls for the motor. Each carrier has an outwardly extending bracket 254 on which are mounted switch members 252 and 253, the former including a switch arm 255 provided With a roller 256 and member 25.3 including a switch arm 251 also provided with a roller 258. The switch members 252 and 253 are electrically connected to the motor of the carrier, the arms 255 and 251 Abeing normally held in circuit-making position and adapted to be shifted to circuit-breaking position by stop shoes 266 and 261, respectively, placed at predetermined points along the tracks 26 and 21, such, for example,.as the loading, vweighing and unloading stations.

The stop shoes 266 and 261 are secured to the lower ends of substantially L-shaped members 268 and 280, respectively, slidable in a vertical guide 269 which is secured at its upper end to a horizontal supporting arm 216 adapted to be clamped by means of hook portion 211 and clamping plate 218 and tightening bolt 219 to the upper flange 22| of the I-beam |43 forming the monorail system. The upper ends of the L- shaped members 268 and 2,88 areeach provided with a pair of laterally projecting arms 210 and 21|, the latter arm of each of the L-shaped members having an opening 212 as clearly shown is Fig. 5. Ropes 213 and 28|, secured at one end to the upper ends of the members 218 and 280, respectively, extend over a pulley 214 supported as at 215 in the upper portion of the guide 269 and are connected at their other end to a tensioning spring 282 secured by a suitable fastening means 283 to a beam 284 or other stationary member. A downwardly extending pull cord 286 is connected at its upper end to each of the ropes 213 and 28| so that both stop shoes 266 and 261 may be raised simultaneously from operative to inoperative positions. One of the shoes 266 or 261 may be held in raised or inoperative position by looping the corresponding rope 213 or 28| about an upstanding lug 285 on the arm 216 disposed between the pulley 14 and the I-beam |43, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, either one of the switch members 252 or 253 may be rendered inoperative by any suitable means so that when a carrier l0 comes to a station where the stop shoes 266 and 261 are as shown in Fig. 3 and switch member 252, for example, has been rendered inoperative, although switch arm 255 will be depressed, the carrier will not be stopped. However, should the stop shoe for the operative switch member be in lowered position, then the carrier will be stopped vautomatically when it reaches this point. Another advantage in the use of the double switch members and the Stop shoes therefor, is that these operating parts or controlling devices may be set up in such a manner that certain of the carriers H0 will be stopped automatically at certain stations and pass by other stations, while certain other carriers will be stopped automatically at certain other stations and pass those stations at which the iirst carriers are made to stop.

t will thus be seen that by the use of the double switch arrangement and stop shoes therefor, the monorail system possesses a wide range of flexibility, and may readily be adapted to vessels of different sizes and construction especially since th'e travelling hoists or carriers H6 are individually controlled, and the operation of certain carriers selectively controlled with respect to certain others. Moreover, the stop shoes may be easily shifted along the monorail to accommodate any number of hatches and the varying positions of Vthe hatches of different vessels.

Furthermore, as previously explained, the double track arrangement 26 and 21 may be combined into one large loop so that Athe carriers H0 may be shifted from one track to the other, thereby enabling the load taken from the hatch or hatches located aft of the vessel on the vessel side of one of the tracks 26 or 21, to be taken to the unloading station U of the shore side of the other track. In this manner, in the event of failure of one of the conveyors of the conveyor system cooperating with one of the tracks 26 or 21, substantially full production may be maintained by distributing the men from the disabled conveyor to the remaining conveyors and equally distributing the loads from the diierent hatches on to the remaining conveyors while the disabled conveyor is repaired.

In the use and operation of the conveying system above described, the ship is moored alongside the pier 25 so that the forward 'hatch' is opposite the track 26 and the stern hatch opposite the track 21 of the monorail system. The track switches S in this instance are set so that the monorail system forms two independent circuits or loops and the stop shoes 266 and 261 for the switch members 252 and 254, respectively, adjusted to proper positions adjacent the different hatches on the vessel side of the tracks 26 Vand 21, and Eadjacent each of the scales at the `weighing station W and each' of the conveyors and I I2 at the unloading stations U on the shore side of the tracks.

Stevedores in the holds of the vessel pile the bags together to form a bundle or draft, the number of bags in eachl draft depending upon the weight of the individual bags and the lifting capacity of the combined hoists and carriers H0. The bags are laid on a sling in the form of a loop and one end of the loop threaded through the other end to hold the bags together and the derrick on the vessel then lifts the draft to the deck of the vessel from whence it is transferred to the pier along the path of travel of the carriers HIJ on the vessel side of the monorail system. As the empty carriers H arrive at this point, each is stopped and the hoisting gear th'ereof `lowered by any suitable mechanism (not shown). A stevedore stationed at this point ties a draft to the lowered hoisting gear after which the latter is operated to raise the draft and the carrier H0 started to move along the monorail until the weighing station W is reached on the shore side of the monorail. At this point, each carrier is stopped for weighing of the draft.

When the weighing operation has been cornpleted, the carrier is again started to proceed along the monorail until the unloading station U is reached and th'e carrier stopped adjacentV either conveyor HI or conveyor H2. The hoisting gear is then operated to lower the draft onto one of the conveyors and the draft is disengaged from the carrier. The sling is removed from the bags as the draft of bags is carried along the conveyor and is placed onto one of the sling conveyor 321 for returning the empty slings to a position beneath the monorail where they may be loaded onto the empty carriers. v

The bags moving along the conveyor |H are discharged into the higher speed conveyor H3 and the bags moving along conveyor H2 are discharged into the higher speed conveyor H4. As the bags move along the conveyors H3 and H4, they are opened by workmen stationed along the sides of the conveyors. At the discharge end of each of the conveyors H3 and I I4, the bags are emptied of their material onto sharply inclined conveyorsV H5 and H6, respectively, and the empty bags cast aside. The material falling out of th'e bags is often very lumpy and the conveyors H5 and H6 discharge it into the Crusher II'I where the lumps are broken up. The material now falls onto the elevating conveyor H8 and is taken up to the secondary crusher H9 where the rotating blades 3|5 break up any remaining lumps before discharging the material to th'e second` elevating conveyor I2| which terminates above the bin |22.` The plow |23 pushes the vmaterial from the conveyor |2| onto the conveyor |24 from whence it is discharged at the desired point in the bin |22 by th'e plow |25.

The empty slings returned by the sling con- 'veyors 321 are hooked to the empty carriers and the latter started to proceed along the monorail system to the loading point on the vessel side of the tracks 2B and 2'I and a new load or draft hooked onto the hoisting gear of the carrier to repeat th'e cycle just described until the ship V has been emptied of its cargo.

From the foregoing it is believed that the operation and advantages ofA our material handling and conveying system may be readily understood by thosev skilled in the art without further description, it being'borne in mind that shore side ofthe wharf, of an elevatedmonorail systemr disposed longitudinally y between the series of elongated loading and unloading stations including a pair of endless tracks arranged in end-to-end relation and each including aV pair of parallel straight sections disposed on th'e vessel side and shore side,`respectively, of the wharf, switch means for connecting said pair of endless tracks together to form asingle endless loop extending' along the wharf, and a plurality of spaced travelling hoists movable along each of said tracks and each adapted to receive a load of material from a loading station and deliver it to an unloading station, to accommodate either or both fore and aft holds of a cargo vessel moored along the wharf and extending leither the length of one pair of endless tracks or both of them when switched together.

` JACOB H. LIENAU. JACOB J. NEUMAN. 

